Songs are an important part of the Christmas tradition, and nothing sets the mood for the season better than traditional carols with a good selection of contemporary favourites. To assist churches with planning services at Christmas time we developed this quick information guide on how to use songs easily and legally.

Many people assume because a Christmas song is widely sung, it can be used without permission for carols services. Quite a large number of Christmas carols, hymns and re-orchestrated public domain songs are still in copyright, which means permission or a licence is needed to print, project or photocopy the song lyrics. As well, public domain songs that are published in current song books will also have current publication copyright.

Public Domain means the copyright has expired on a copyright work, so the work is free for the public to use without permission. In Australia, where both the author and composer died prior to 1955, the song is now in public domain. From 1 January 2005, copyright in Australia now lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years. As a result, songs where the author and composer are either still alive, or died in 1955 or after, are still in copyright and you will need permission to use these songs.

Depending on when and where a Carols service is held, the Church Copyright and/or Photocopy Licence may or may not grant permission for printing or projecting lyrics, copying song book music sheets or other copyright material. If your service is NOT being held on your church premises during a regularly scheduled worship service, please refer to the individual licence terms of agreement to confirm whether or not your activities are covered.

Under Australian copyright law performance of copyright songs in church is considered a public performance. Generally, for performance of spiritual songs in regular worship services, a licence is not required by the Australasian Performing Rights Association.
A Christmas Carols service held in a church or public environment such as a park, which is not part of a regularly scheduled church service, may require a public performance licence, as Carols services by themselves do not classify as a worship service.

The Song Search facility is a free service available to all users on our website. This search engine will show if a song is covered by the Church Copyright Licence, and whether or not a particular version is still in copyright. Song Search is located in the Customers section of our webpage.

Song Search is not only a valuable tool for searching for a song’s copyright status, it is also a great tool to put together a fantastic song list!

Following is a preparation tick-list to give you an idea of what types of information and licences you may need for Christmas services.

Check the copyright date on all songs, and the publication date on all books you want to photocopy. If you are in doubt about the song copyright, have a look on the
Song Search site

It is illegal to download lyrics or sheet music from websites that do not hold a licence from the song publishers. Resources downloaded from unlicensed websites are not covered by any CCLI licence. If you require lyrics or sheet music, the SongSelect subscription music and lyrics download service is a fantastic tool for music team resource planning. Please see the SongSelect site for more information. Many of our members offer sheet musicdownloads at their own websites; we have a list of some of the authorised websites covered by the Photocopy Licence.

A licence is required to show movies or film clips in a church service or a public place, no matter how short the film clip. If you are planning to use motion pictures as part of your Christmas programme, please see the CVLI website for more information about the Church Video Licence.

If the Carols service is not a regularly scheduled worship service, or is being held outside the church premises, you may need to get special licenses. Please contact us for more information.

Permission is needed to use pre-recorded backing tracks for a public performance. If you are planning to use a backing track, whether it is commercially produced or not, please contact us for more information.

• We are having a Christmas carols and drama service in church instead of a regularly scheduled Saturday night worship service. Will our CCL cover us for projecting lyrics on the data projector during this service?
• When a Christmas service is held as a seasonal variation on a regular worship service the CCL and PCL will cover reproduction of lyrics and sheet music.

• Our church is staging a ‘carols by candlelight’ production in a local park. We hold a Church Copyright Licence, will this cover us for projecting the lyrics during the service?
• Your CCL grants permission for the reproduction of songs administered by CCLI only, and for these songs it will cover you for an external Carols service.


• The CCL does not cover the reproduction or display of songs by copyright owners that are not members of CCLI, which includes the songwriters of many contemporary secular Holiday songs. Please check any songs you want to use in your Carols service against the SongSearch facility, and where a song is not covered by the Church Copyright Licence, you will need to get special print permission from the local publisher.

• Our church has a Church Video Licence, and we want to hold a series of ‘films on the lawn’ as community outreach during the holiday period. We have a large grassed area in front of our building, on our church property, where we want to show these films. Will our CVL cover us for this?
• The CVL is a property specific licence so movies being shown on the church property are covered for this use, whether inside or out. If the church is showing movies in a nearby park, a community hall, or a property other than the licensed church property, the church needs a CVL event licence to cover the film night.

• How can I tell if a song is public domain or not?
• Copyright lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years, but this is a recent addition to Australian copyright law. If the creator died before 1955, the song lyrics and musical composition will be public domain. Where a creator is still alive, or died in 1955 or later, the song is still covered by copyright and you will need a licence to reproduce the lyrics and music.

• We want to sing a contemporary song during our Christmas Eve service, but we need to transpose it for the song leader. Do we need permission to transpose a song to another key and then photocopy it for our music team?
• Permission is required to create an adaptation of a song, such as transposing the key. Where a song owner is a member of CCLI, if there is no published version available in the arrangement needed, then the Church Copyright Licence grants permission to make a customised arrangment.


• SongSelect is an online subscription lyric and sheet music resource that includes the ability to transpose lead sheets and hymn sheets between keys, and even by octaves, then print the adaptation. For more information please see the SongSelect site.

• Where can I find a list of Public Domain Christmas Carols?
• APRA-AMCOS have a list of all Public Domain Christmas Carols.